'Hm...seems harmless enough, I suppose.' she thinks to herself. 'But I'll have to keep an eye on him regardless.' she tells herself. She merely nods and looks over towards her Imouto-chan before looking back at the mysterious boy.

"It's quite alright," she reassures him, her voice not as intimidating as before. "So what brings you here? Did you come here to train?"

I felt my breath catch in my throat. Yori Unni wasn't exactly back to normal, but she wasn't spitting posion, either, so I took that as a good sign.

Before he could answer, I spoke out in a way that I never thought I would have been able to. He just seemed so lost, for some reason.

"Umm... Wait. You.. You really aren't bothering as at all..." I said carefully, glancing at Yori Unni to see what her reaction would be. He wasn't bothering me, but I wasn't too sure if Unni was still a bit peeved or not. I continued, "...but what's your name? Is it Yahiko or Juarez? I mean... I don't think it's Santa, right?" I said, smiling lightly as I tried to smooth out the tension between us.

"Uhh...It's Juarez..." Yahiko lied, he didn't like lying but he had to. "I was only walking around and I saw you 2 strangers. I was hoping to find some friends and was hoping you guys would become my, well....first friends...?"

She narrowed her eyes for a moment before she replied. Yori was a pretty trusting person, but she was pretty wary of outsiders of her village. And after hearing that her sensei Midori was killed, that was all the more reason to be wary of strangers that she wasn't familiar with, especially if they were shinobi. She couldn't let her guard down...no matter what!

"Hm, alright then..." she trails off, studying him once more before she adds anything else. "It's nice to meet you, Juarez..." After hearing him stammer over a simple question as to what his name was, she knew she had to get more information on him if she were to befriend someone outside the village.

I felt strangely flattered. His first friends? How could I refuse to such a humble request?

I smiled brightly, glad that he was opening up. I admired his bravery; I never would have been able to approach two strangers, let alone one, and ask them to be my friends. Yori Unni, however, still seemed cold, for what reason I had no idea, but it didn't dampen my mood too much.

"Of course we'll be your friends" I smiled sideways at Yori Unni, though I was sure that my eyes were filled with worry. I tried my best to hide it, but knowing Unni, she probably saw straight through me. I turned back to Juarez.

"Well, umm.. I'm Tsukichou Aki. Ummm.. You can call me Aki, or Aki-kun, if you'd like." I then gestured to Yori Unni with a smile, so that she could introduce herself as she wished. I wasn't big on speaking for other people, but I hoped that I didn't seem rude for not doing so.

Yori wasn't too surprised to see Aki acting completely different towards Juarez than she was, they seemed to have a lot in common in the personality department so she assumed her Imouto-chan thought he was approachable enough, even though Yori was still a little wary about what to think of him since she knew nothing about him except his name. "Yori Yuhi..." she introduced herself to him with a small nod of acknowledgement.

I shuddered a little, and hoped that no one noticed. Yori Unni just seemed so cold and distant... I smiled, though, because Juarez didn't seem to mind too much. He did seem a bit jittery, though. A wave of concern washed over me.

"Is there something wrong, Juarez?" He did seem truly happy, but a but fidgety. I frowned, wondering if it was because of Yori Unni, though I didn't blame her at all for being wary.

She raised an eyebrow in suspicion when she noticed a glint in his eye before he regained his normal composure. 'This guy...I don't even know what to think of him. He seems like he's an innocent little kid, although he could be putting up a front so it's difficult to make assumptions right now...' she pondered in her mind.

"I see, but why the rush Juarez? I mean...you did just get here after all ne?" she asks with a calm yet stern voice.

I grimaced. I understood that Yori Unni wanted to exercise caution, but pushing him like this wasn't the answer. I gently, but firmly, placed a hand on Unni's shoulder, begging her to be more open with my eyes.

"Maybe he was looking for the place where he had to go..." I said, a pleading note in my voice. I turned to Juarez with a small, apologetic smile.

"You can go, if you'd like. We'll be seeing more of each other later on, now that we're friends." I smiled at him warmly.

She quickly looked over at Aki a bit surprised seeing the pleading look in her eyes, while putting a firm hand on her shoulder. 'I suppose I should just keep an open mind about him...it's too early to make judgements about him and assume things that I don't have proof of.' she thinks, nodding in Aki in reply, as if slightly apologetic for what she had said earlier.

She looks over at Juarez before giving him a silent nod in his direction, as if agreeing with Aki's words, but Yori's eyes seem to hold a tinge of caution but she managed to hide it well. "Guess we'll be seeing you around then..."

My smile disappeared as if Yahiko had taken it away with him. I stared at his back for a while, until he was just a speck on the horizon. And then he disappeared. I turned toward Yori Unni. I waited for a while, scanning her cool expression, wondering what to say next. I decided not to beat around the bush.

"What unnerves you, Unni?" I asked softly. I wasn't mad at her. Not at all. I was more concerned about what she was thinking and feeling at the moment.

She doesn't answer her question right away, as if thinking back on her first meeting with Juarez. She runs a hand through her short brown hair before sighing to herself. "I apologize if I came off as a little too...cautious Imouto-chan. But after learning about Midori-sama's death...it makes it that much more difficult to trust outsiders, considering she had been killed by someone who was not even from our village. Knowing that, I can't let my guard down until I get the full details about this boy...I don't want to jump to any conclusions and make assumptions either." she explains to her.

I shook my head, my hair slapping lightly on my face. "You have nothing to apologize for, Unni. I understand what you mean."

My expression turned hard, and I stared past Yori Unni at some tree in the distance. I shifted my weight to one side, and wrapped my arms around myself. My right arm automatically let go and reached up to tug on my hair as I thought.

I started to mutter to myself, but loudly enough so that only Unni could hear.

"We can't say that Juarez is Midori-sama's actual killer, nor can we claim that Juarez is, in fact, an infiltrator. That doesn't mean that he isn't, though, just because we don't know. We know too little to say anything right now, and the best we can do is take caution... The new Yamikage is also very suspicious. How did he suddenly become Yamikage? Lucia-sama said nothing about it. He is also not from here..."

My eyes widened, and I suddenly wished that I had something to hold close to me. A stuffed doll, perhaps, would have been nice right about now. Or... my faithful companion, whom I so dearly missed...

She stares hard at the ground with a small frown before she puts a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "I'll admit I'm a little nervous myself about all these outsiders suddenly appearing, but that doesn't mean I'll let my fear get the better of me and run away. I am a shinobi after all, and I must defend the village whenever there is trouble no matter what. But I promise you Imouto-chan, if the time ever comes that you are in danger, I'll be there to protect you from harm." she replies.

"Even if it means at the cost of my own life...because you're like a little sister to me." she whispers, giving her a sad smile.

She stayed silent for a moment before she smiled faintly in response, though it was a very weak smile. 'I know you'll be able to Imouto-chan...probably sooner than you think...maybe sooner than I think.' she thinks to herself before shaking off the thought.

"Yeah, I was getting ready to work on a new jutsu..." She pulls out a large scroll before opening it up, revealing several new jutsu she was planning on mastering. "I managed to get that Wooden Barrier Jutsu down thanks to you..." she said with a greatful smile.

I smiled, probably one of the first real ones in a long time. Or it seemed a long time, anyway.

"Unni, again, I did nothing. Just tested it out, really. I had nothing to do with actually making it."

I tapped my chin. "You know, I just realized, I don't really use scrolls to learn things." I turned my gaze to Yori Unni. "Why not try making your own jutsus? I mean, I can do it. You're probably more than capable of doing it than I am," I pointed out.

Yori thought over it for a moment, as if contemplating what she had said about the scroll. "Well, the jutsu I have are actually a variety of the sorts. For example, the Wooden Barrier Jutsu was learned from a scroll while my Servant Technique Jutsu was created by yours truly, but that is an interesting proposition." she said, scratching her head thoughtfully.

"I have been working on a new jutsu for a while now, it's sort of similar to my Tree Binding Death Jutsu."

Sephirum teleports in, watching the girls from a far. He had to know what they could do before fighting them. Yahiko was miles away, chained to wall so he couldn't come here. He learned of this location after getting into Yahiko's mind and getting all his knowledge of meeting the locals.